Marquette, Negaunee boys move up in U.P. poll

Journal Sports Staff

IRONWOOD — While area girls teams held their spots, both Marquette and Negaunee made moves up on the boys side of this week’s high school basketball polls released today by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

The Marquette (13-1) boys moved into a tie for first place in the Class ABC rankings. The Redmen are deadlocked with Iron Mountain (14-2), which defeated former No. 1 Norway (14-1) last week.

And Negaunee (11-3) moved back into the rankings in fifth after spending about a month just outside the top five. The Miners’ three losses have come to each of the top three teams in the ABC poll.

Four area teams idled in neutral in the girls’ polls. Munising (16-0) drew a pair of first-place votes but couldn’t unseal the lock on the top spot in Class ABC held all season by Houghton (17-0).

And Marquette (15-2) remained in fourth, though edging closer to No. 3 Norway (16-0) as the Redettes pulled within two votes of the Knights.

Ishpeming (12-3) also received a vote but missed cracking the top five.

In Class D, Baraga (14-2) pulled within one first-place vote and one point of catching Forest Park (13-3) for the top spot.

In the weekly state Associated Press polls also released today, Munising moved up a position to sixth in the Class C girls rankings, while Baraga remained seventh for the second straight week among Class D girls.

And Marquette moved tantalizingly close to the top 10 for Class A girls, missing the 10th spot by a single vote.